XFX 8600 GT Fatal1ty Review

Introduction:

Video cards are getting faster and more powerful every time you turn around, and while it is great to have the greatest and best, not everyone wants to spend upwards of five hundred dollars to buy the ultimate in performance. Many people would rather sacrifice a portion of that performance for a significantly cut price. Video card manufactures are keen to this and have always produced cards that are slightly less powerful than their flagship brethren. For nVidia, the 8600 series is this card.

The XFX 8600 GT Fatal1ty card aims to provide an amazing experience, complete with Direct X 10 (if you are running Vista), at a lower price than the full blown 8800 series. Carrying the name of arguably the most famous professional gamer, Fatal1ty, The XFX 8600 GT Fatal1ty does not leave much out, packing many similar features as the higher class cards, such as PureVideo HD, HDCP capability, and full 128-bit HDR. Other 8600 GT cards have done well in the past with our benchmarks, so lets see how the 8600 GT Fatal1ty stacks up!

Closer Look:

The packaging that the XFX 8600GT Fatal1ty comes in has an outer cardboard shell with some graphics, the XFX logo and a list of specifications. This outer shell also has a picture of Johnathan Wendel, bettter know by his gamer tag, Fatal1ty, putting a face with the name on the box.

On the inside, a more sturdy cardboard box is found that displays the XFX logo with class. This box folds open and reveals the XFX 8600Gt Fatal1ty packaged safely within a pad of Styrofoam.